Actor turned debut writer/director Frances O’Connor’s Emily Brontë biopic, Emily, boasts solid acting and beautiful cinematography, and its theme of intellects pushing against the boundaries of their day comes across well in the story and its many memorable moments of strong emotion. But the film also feels a little lost at times in its search for dramatic peaks and forced suspense to keep 130 minutes of screen time interesting. Shaving 30 or more minutes off in editing would have helped keep the story more focused and allowed the film’s many compelling elements to shine.
The tale follows Emily (Emma Mackey) and her sisters as they move through young adulthood within the confines of early 1800s rural England. The sisters, and Emily’s beloved brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead), have active imaginations and the impulse to create art and literature. Branwell and Emily are the most radical, pushing against social and church constricts to a degree that ultimately causes them both grief and alienation.
Read the full review at AWFJ.org
Images courtesy of Bleeker Street.
